I’m running wrote:
How about the running experience? Who develops runners well? Has a good team culture? Who’s improving?
What are your events and what's your gender?
Men's distance: Princeton, Columbia > Penn > Dartmouth > Cornell, Yale , Brown > Harvard
Unfortunately, Harvard has a reputation now that while they can recruit, the majority of their distance guys bomb out before graduating OR they are very inconsistent throughout their careers. Princeton and Columbia have had a strong distance rivalry for the last 10 years, with Penn recently coming on due to the strength of Dolan's coaching (who used to coach at Princeton). Dartmouth has good distance history.
Women's distance: Columbia > Dartmouth, Yale > Princeton > Cornell, Brown > Penn > Harvard
The women's distance has been more in flux these last few years as you don't have the dominance quite as much as you see in the men's side. Columbia went from last to 1st in the span of one year. Harvard looked good in 2016 XC but they lost most of their distance crew due to injury and transfers, and their distance coach "resigned" after some internal team scandals, so their 2017 XC was not good (went from 1st to last). Dartmouth is reemerging in a post D'Ags world, and Yale has been strong these last few years. Princeton has some good individuals but they don't have the team depth like they used to.
Men's sprinting: Cornell, Princeton >>> everyone else.
While Cornell has dominated the sprinting realm these last 10 years, Princeton does have some individuals who can break up the Big Red bunch. Both of these schools tend to yield the most athletes in the sprinting and jumping finals (less than 400m). Some individuals from other schools shine from time to time, but Cornell and Princeton have more depth.
Women's sprinting: Harvard >>> Penn, Cornell > Dartmouth, Princeton > Yale, Brown, Columbia
Harvard has won team conference titles due to the strength of their sprinting/hurdling/jumps group, and they just keep recruiting more and more talent. Like with the men, some individuals from other schools shine from time to time, but Harvard just has more depth and if their athletes stay healthy, they are the sprinting powerhouse for another few years.
As for team culture, from a fan's perspective, it seems like Cornell, Princeton, and Penn have the loudest voices and are most present during Heps championships. I can't say anything about what it is like for them back on campus or when they train.